What makes your Home Theater system

No matter how unbelievable a home system is it will never equal the
experience of going to a theater and the overall impact a film makes in
that setting, and I believe it has more to do with the theatrical
environment than the projection and sound equipment used to project
the film. I find that at home, my attention span is short. I can get up
and get a bite to eat or go to the bathroom whenever I want without
missing anything. At a theater, I'm forced to sit and pay attention if I
value not missing anything. The value received from the concentration
that results from watching a film straight through in a theater is nearly
immeasurable. What do you all think about this?

Tvad brings to mind something I've known for along time from working in and around the audio video business, and that's that I think most people really like to SHARE THEIR MOVIE/THEATER EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS!...after all, most of us(I exclude the engineers, acountants, physicists, and sanitation workers...kidding) are social creatures, and like to share with people! What better place to do that than in an large commercial theater!!! I mean after all, there are women there...which is nice.(oh wait!...there's a woman at my house too!...another reason to get away...haha)
There is something about going out in public to check out the latest "to-do". Again, a social thing.
I like to share my home theater with my friends and family. I enjoy it that much more when I'm with them...even if they don't care as much as me about "the system". They like the experience more than the specifics.
So, from that standpoint, you can't replace that with the "home thing". Still, as men who like to put things together, and are into "things and toys", this is cool stuff!...home theater. And it's got great potential in replicating the real thing. And with the advent of higher def material, better video products, and improved audio(I'd like some more break throughs in speaker designs personally "by-en-large"), the potential for tremendous home theater is just that!(knowledge, experience and proper execution/application are key).
Aside from the obvious drawbacks of the large social experience(if that's for you) of going out, there's no reason you can't expect the same stellar theater experience in the home with the help of technology and skilled competent effort.

I think that most people who watch films at home do not get the same "theater experience" but there are people who have an actual "theater" in their home, rather than a multi-function media room. If you invite enough friends over, you can still get the social aspect of the film, which is very good to have.

The one thing I have that really sets my system apart from the theaters and even other peoples home theaters is the D-BOX Odyssee Motion Simulator. It adds an extra sensation that you cannot experience with anything else. While traditional reproduction systems will play audio and video, I get audio, video and motion.

For those who have never seen a movie in a system with an Odyssee motion simulator, I suggest you find a dealer who has one on display and watch a full movie on it.

What makes my HT special?

I'm not into sharing armrests. And, I get to pause the film when I need a bathroom break. Oh yeah, my chair is much more comfortable than the fake velvet fold down chair in the theater with the gum and nachos stains on it. And I can turn off all the cell phones in the area. Hmm. Plus, there aren't any wailing babies. And I can stretch out my legs and don't end up with mashed knees after a two hour film.

And if that weren't enough, those nasty movie theater owners take exception when I try to bring in my bottle of Macallan 18yo.

Get a front projector for your home theater instead of a big screen tv. Watching it on a good screen maybe 100" diagonal with a decent surround sound system is awesome, and the new projectors and screen cost less than most plasma tv's. Also HDTV looks great, and DVD's look great. Standard tv looks very good, pretty good or grainy depending on the channel & program.